Funding must be found soon to expand Sandbach Cemetery now that Cheshire East has acknowledged additional land at Hassall Road was set aside for burial purposes, a councillor has said.

Cllr Mike Benson (Sandbach Town, Con) said if there was only nine years' capacity at the cemetery in 2017 then there was probably only five years now.

And he praised the work of local resident Ann Nevitt who turned up at Cheshire East's meeting of the environment and communities committee with the documentary evidence to prove the former Sandbach Urban District Council had taken all the necessary legal steps in 1933 to ensure the land was used as a cemetery when needed.

Without that land, Sandbach residents face the prospect of having to bury their loved ones in Crewe or Macclesfield in the future.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after Thursday's meeting, Cllr Benson said: "Having gotten over the first hurdle, that's acknowledging this land was set aside for a cemetery, we now have a number of other hurdles.

"My real worry is that the Sandbach Cemetery is not kicked into the long grass, because it can't afford to be. Five years sounds a long time but it isn't to get things done.

"It's not easy to find funding, it's not easy to get the work done, so we need to act now and get the ball rolling."

Nearly 6,000 residents signed a petition raised by Mrs Nevitt to save Sandbach Cemetery.

Mrs Nevitt told the committee: "Until recently, the council's position was that, unfortunately, the conveyance of the land designated for the cemetery was lost or destroyed at some time between 1933 and the present day, thereby enabling the land to be used for any purpose, including a football pitch or an open space.

"I can now report that the conveyance document is no longer lost, nor was it destroyed and I have an official copy of this dated March 3 1933.

"The council at that time clearly went to considerable lengths to ensure the legal documentation was correct in every particular to enable the land to be used as a cemetery, this included obtaining the approval of the Ministry of Health."

She added: "The only real conclusion must be that the intention of the 1933 conveyance could not be clearer and this committee, and indeed the successor local authority, must act accordingly."

The land at Hassall Road has since been used as a football pitch, but resident Philip Brooks said it hasn't been used for matches for the past decade.

"We recently asked Cheshire East Council under the Freedom of Information Act for all documentation referring to the cemetery since its purchase, we were told that no documents relating to the transfer of ownership or change of use existed," he told the meeting.

"We were eventually sent a copy of the original conveyance in which the entire parcel of land was described as cemetery land.

"As there are no records of any change of use since that date, this means the field was never designated as a playing field and is still what it was originally intended to be, part of the cemetery."

He said when the council does its next review into cemetery provision 'I consider it essential that this field and its status as an integral part of the cemetery should be included in the terms of reference for that review, without reference to any imaginary, non-existent football pitch'.

Councillors heard from Paul Bayley, director of environment and neighbourhood services at Cheshire East, that it had been confirmed the existing cemetery and adjacent field, including the children's play area, was originally purchased in 1933 by the Urban District Council of Sandbach for the purpose of a cemetery.

The committee approved an up-to-date assessment be done of the future demand and capacity for burial within the whole borough of Cheshire East, including identifying options to optimise existing space within cemeteries where there is less than 30 years capacity remaining.

It also agreed to create an advisory panel of councillors to contribute to a report to enable a further review of the cemeteries strategy based on the updated demand and capacity assessment.